Q 01/05

Which country was the first to introduce state retirement benefits, in 1889?

A) Germany

B) Britain

C) France

D) United States

Answer · why

A) Germany

Germany. Otto von Bismarck, a conservative chancellor, backed old-age pensions largely to draw workers away from the socialist movement.

Q 02/05

Which Roman emperor retired in 305 to an Adriatic palace now at the centre of Split, Croatia?

A) Hadrian

B) Diocletian

C) Constantine

D) Marcus Aurelius

Answer · why

B) Diocletian

Diocletian. Asked to return to power, he is said to have replied that nobody who saw the cabbages he had planted with his own hands would ask.

Q 03/05

Which Roman emperor set up a state pension for army veterans in 13 BC?

A) Julius Caesar

B) Nero

C) Augustus

D) Trajan

Answer · why

C) Augustus

Augustus. In one of the earliest pension schemes on record, veterans got a lump sum after 16 years in a legion and four in reserve, and he later creat...

Q 04/05

Which US president signed the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935?

A) Herbert Hoover

B) Harry S. Truman

C) Woodrow Wilson

D) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer · why

D) Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt insisted workers pay in through payroll taxes so that, as he put it, no politician could ever scrap the programme.

Q 05/05

Ida May Fuller of Vermont was the first person to receive what, in 1940?

A) A monthly Social Security cheque

B) An employer 401(k) match

C) An AARP membership card

D) A Medicare insurance card

Answer · why

A) A monthly Social Security cheque

A monthly Social Security cheque. Fuller, a retired legal secretary, had paid in for about three years; she lived to 100 and collected $22,888.92.